Unit 1: Pt 18 Sunny Interlude

With lots of work being done in the background – research, reading & writing, I realised I needed a bit of time in my favourite place.

Could add to this project, who knows. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, surprisingly mild for a late October day. On the drive home from work I took a detour to the Woodland Gardens in Bushy Park. I didn’t take many photos, but just being in the woodland itself was a calming, soul-cleansing experience after a very busy week.

The following were taken on my mobile phone.

 

I did take a few with my DSLR. Gave myself a little challenge of going fully manual.

 

 

An enjoyable interlude with an extension of previous ideas.

Criteria Ref: Task 2.1

 

Unit 1: Pt 21 Brighton 28th October 2017

Another day, another shoot. Back to Brighton beach. More observations. This was earlier than when I started the previous day. I really liked the silver tones, which is what usually results from when the sun is coming in directly towards the beach.

I was also using a single focal point directed at the bottom third of the frame, something that had been given as a tip when finding this area when taking a landscape image. All of the following were taken with my Nikon D5500 DSLR with the 50mm lens.

 

After taking a look at the sea, I focused on the old pier again. This is a mix of the old struts and the pier itself. Just trying to see what works, what doesn’t. Looking at lines, shapes, light, etc. Plus a close up for a spot of detail. (back to my comfort zone!).

The light then started to change as the sun moved round – my focus returned to the sea, but with some human additions.

I also took some closer shots of the waves & sea foam.

Then my attention went back to the pier, catching the setting sun moving over the structure.

With the light fading & the time on the parking ticket it was time to leave the beach & return to the car. Caught these few final shots before departing.

I’ve made some edits of a few of the shots from the day. Good, but not perfect. But feeling I’m moving in the right direction.

Interestingly, after I posted the last image on Facebook, a friend pointed out that the horizon was ‘wonky’. That was one thing I was noticing with some of the other images. Ok, I wasn’t using a tripod so what would I expect when dealing with such a wide horizon? So I tried the auto-straighten in Camera Raw with the following edited shot:

This is the original:

Better! What I did notice is that Camera Raw will straighten depending on the crop setting. Also, it did reduce the size of the initial file. Yes, better to have a straight shot in the first place, but now I know how to adjust accordingly.

Criteria Ref: Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.1 & 3.2

Unit 1: Pt 22 Beachy Head & Seven Sisters 29th October 2017

Another gorgeous Autumn day, another photography opportunity. I’d stayed in Brighton the night before, so when a trip to Beachy Head was suggested of course I said ‘yes’.

I’ve always been aware of this part of the Southern coast. Firstly as a beautiful place. Secondly in the not-so-nice spot which is often an individual’s last. But I knew it would a lovely landscape to take in & photograph.

On the drive to Beachy Head from Brighton, I passed a sight that really spiked my attention. It was a winding river leading down towards to the coast. I made a note that it had to be visited on the return journey.

These are impressions of the landscape encountered. A few good shots, but none that really resonated with what I was looking for. I did manage to get some of the cliffs (was thinking along the lines of Ansel Adams at this stage), but it wasn’t the right place to capture any sense of majesty. Again, I was using the single spot focus at the bottom third of the frame.

One detail I noticed…

After spending about an hour walking, taking photos, breathing the fresh sea air, sitting, watching the water I knew I had to get back to the ‘snake’ river I’d spotted earlier. A quick bit of smartphone research by my companion revealed it was a feature of Seven Sisters Country Park. With the sun moving fast into the West it was time to get back into the car & venture forth. Well, back towards the direction of Brighton.

On arrival at the park, I scooted ahead of my fellow photographer, keen to find a good vantage point to see what I saw from the car earlier. Annoyingly, the path in the park wasn’t at the same height as the passing road. But I was there & had to make the most of the moment.

If I’d have been higher up, I could have caught that meandering river so much better. I think with a bit of forward planning, this could be a very interesting subject matter.

This is an edited shot with a bit of a straighten & crop.

Phew, that was a busy three days. This landscape lark really takes a lot of thought & planning. I have to remember that in order to appreciate & get the best out of a place that it takes time to know an environment. It took me four years to really understand Bushy Park with numerous visits to the same places at different times of the day & year. I’d also just focus on the smaller details & spaces, almost afraid to widen my vision & horizons.

Now I’m beginning to think more about composition of a much larger space. Different perspective, different tack. All part of the learning process.

Criteria Ref: Tasks 2.1, 2.2 & 3.1

 

 

 

 

 

Unit 1: Pt 31 Brighton Beach 12th November 2017

A few more shots from my last visit to Brighton.

This time, I decided to focus more on the West Pier itself to see what could be achieved from different angles using the 50mm lens. This time, my approach was more considered. I wanted to explore the pier & beach further. This selection is in addition to the shots I took that day for the technical exercise ‘Up Down All Around’ outlined in Pt 24 & carried out in Pt 25.

Think I’ve taken enough photographs now – time for the selecting & editing process to begin.

Criteria Ref: Task 3.1

 

Unit 1: Pt 33 Getting Selective

After my interim crit with Ria on the 17th November, it was time to tackle Task 3 on the list. Time to look at my current crop of images taken over the last few weeks then select the ones that are the most effective & striking, both visually and technically. I will then get a selection of basic prints done so I can look at them off the screen. Will also be easier to look at & make groupings.

My first editorial decision was to use the photos taken on Brighton Beach. I did like some of the ones from Beachy Head & the Seven Sisters Country Park, but they were not as visually strong both in composition & technically in comparison. I think that if I was to take more successful shots of these locations, I would need many more visits to work out when the best light would be. Also, I would have to use a lens with a wider angle & deeper focus to make the most of that snaking river at Seven Sisters.

I then went through the Brighton Beach collections, marking the ones I thought were the stronger images. I also wanted to include the ones which I felt related to my findings while researching the work of other photographers, specifically Ansel Adams, Fay Godwin & Thomas Joshua Cooper. I rated them accordingly, giving a top ***** to the ones I thought best.

I then copied all of the RAW files into one folder then took a much closer look at the quality of the images. As I wanted to emulate the sharpness seen within a black & white print, all images with visible ‘noise’ were rejected. Next, I looked at the colour tones to see what matched. I was finding myself drawn to the more monotone ones, rather than the ones featuring blues & oranges.

So I started to mark these down removing ones that didn’t have the right composition, such as the one featuring the concrete pier. It did have some nice leading lines, but it didn’t quite fit in with the others. I also remembered my original concept of making water ‘look like rock’.

Again, more images were taken out. I found myself being more fussy & cut-throat at this stage. Even removing some of my favourites.

This is how the final selection looked.

These are the jpgs:

At this stage, I had decided that black & white was the way forward. I’d always envisioned the final image as monotone. Especially as the three landscape photographers’ work I’d looked at are too. So I tried a few test conversions on one of my selected images.

My next thoughts were on cropping. One observation of Adams’, Godwin’s & Coopers’ work is that they are rarely on a 2:3 ratio. They seem to be 3:4 or 4:5. Also, the frames I have in mind have a mount size of 16″ x 12″ (3:4) rather than 12″ x 18″ (2:3).

I find that the ratio of 3:4 & 4:5 gives a more intimate feel to a picture & brings the viewer into the scenery. This is an effect I want to highlight in the images, which also reflects the shorter depth of field & ‘tightness’ in a photograph taken by my 50mm lens.

After going through some further black & white conversions then cropping them, I settled on the following six images to send to print:

Two days later, the prints arrived. I’ve played around with various combinations & this seems to be the leading choice at the moment:

My next step is to bring these prints into college on the 24th November to show to the class & Ria for their thoughts & critiques. There is still a lot of work to do, too. I know the editing on these images could be greatly improved. The contrast isn’t quite right on the final prints compared to how they appear on screen. I need to think about the paper they’ll be printed onto as well & how editing can make the most of my final choice of medium. Lots of questions to be asked. Lots more analysis, too.

Criteria Ref: Tasks 2.2, 3.1, 3.2 & 4.1

 

 

Unit 1: Pt 38 Post It Notes

With the work from the first term on display, it was time for everyone on the HNC course to comment on the other participants’ efforts. A blank piece of paper with the person’s name on the top was put next to the results of the last three months & those on the course (including those from Ceramics & Photography) had to write constructive comments on what was display.

These are the comments I received:

• Evokes tranquility/strength of the ocean. Light draws you in.
• Makes such a difference to see them framed. Spray in middle picture wonderful.
• A lot of movement & energy in the photos. Framing complements the photos.
• Due to lack of horizon (traditional in landscape) the sea in third photograph starts to look more like a solid mass.
• A definite feeling of movement in the water.
• Images work vertically (portrait & direction of light) rather than a traditional landscape view. Would be better hung closer together, I think.
• I would have liked to see the images in matt & bled to the edge, perhaps with a white frame. I enjoy looking at these pieces & in appreciating the movement & quality of the water.
• I like the light, the present & in the same time can see the eternity.
• The outlook in the light is quite dramatic, looks too cold for paddling.
• These are quite sinister & remind me of the power & harshness of the sea.
• Great texture of the water.
• Lovely shades & nice work. Doing that on the right paper helps them.

One happy photographer. Can’t wait to get my pieces home & on my wall.